Lanette Hindfell
Lanette Hindfell is a young Crosser girl, and a self-proclaimed "ally of justice". She masquerades as a superhero named the Shadow Buster, and goes around attempting to fight evil... be it petty pickpockets or monstrous Blights. Lanette is the only daughter of the wealthy Hindfell clan; a family line whose head house consists entirely of Crossers. As she is heir to the family name, her life is perpetually lorded over by bodyguards and servants, and her daily schedule is crammed full of rigorous private lessons that are meant to mold her into a proper Hindfell lady. Her single father, Verdon Hindfell, is an incredible busy person and is rarely ever home. Because of her rail-roaded lifestyle, she seldom has the time to venture off the Hindfell property. The closest thing she has to a friend is her personal caretaker Lin, although their relationship is more like that of close sisters. Four months before the start of the Lamentable Nights story, Lanette ran away from home after having grown sick and tired of the sheltered and artificial environment within the walls of the Hindfell estate. Some time before her arrival in Pebbleton she ran into the peculiar Stray, Jacket, who at the time seemed out of his mind and actually attacked her. Having mistakened him for a Blight due to his appearance and abnormal aura, she pursued him across several towns and cities thinking that she was vanquishing a dangerous villain. Appearance Lanette is a young teenager with a slim, but fit physique. She is slightly shorter than average, but surprisingly "curvier" than most people would expect. Her distinguishably bright-orange hair is medium length (falling just below her shoulders), which she usually pins up into a small ponytail. Her eyes are a natural aquamarine-blue, but glow violet whenever she uses her powers. Lanette has an X-shaped scar on her left arm, a consequence of her very first run-in with Jacket. As her superhero persona, the Shadow Buster, Lanette wears a white shirt under a light-pink vest, and a blue skirt with black shorts underneath. In order to "protect" her true identity, she wears a pair of goggle shades and a long, violet scarf that obscures the rest of her face. Recently, she has opted to wear a new costume when fighting in her Accel Driver mode, which consists of a red, sleeveless raglan top. When dressed casually, Lanette prefers loose-fitting, tomboyish street clothes as she doesn't like looking too girly. However, no matter what, she always wears a pair of fingerless gloves that she won from a merchandise campaign for an action film. It was a hard-earned victory getting those in without any of the servants noticing. Personality Lanette somewhat childish for her age; she is easily excitable or impressed by anything she finds "cool", and often jumps to conclusions too quickly for her own good. Due to her sheltered upbringing there's also quite a bit she doesn't know about the world outside of her family's estate, but four months has been plenty of time to make mistakes... and to learned from them. Though she is not very street-wise, Lanette is a genius when it comes to book smarts, particularly in regards to the supernatural world. She can also be rather cunning and manipulative if she chooses to channel her intelligence... which, fortunately for those around her, is not very often. Lanette is always determined to prove that she can handle herself and jumps at chances to do so. While her outward enthusiasm might make her seem pushy, she is a well-meaning girl who strives to do what she thinks is right. Though she acts rambunctious and boyish by default, she is also capable of being perfectly demure, but only as a result of strict schooling. She dislikes doing so in front of others and often becomes embarrassed when she has to act lady-like. Still, small instances of her upbringing show through; for one, Lanette almost never uses hard curse words (instead opting for colorful euphemisms), and she is naturally curt and polite to strangers. Behind the hyperactive exterior, Lanette is actually a very lonely girl. Her mother passed away when she was very young, and Lanette does not remember much about her. It seems the she did share a close relationship with her father when she was a child, but at some point he began to return home less and less until completely disappearing from her life three years prior to the start of the main story. Despite being left with a mansion-full of butlers and maids at her beck and call, the relationships Lanette has with the servants are largely superficial; rarely would they even approach the girl unless to perform a duty. The only exception to this is her personal caretaker Lin, whom she views as something of an elder sister. Since she is forbidden from treading off her family's grounds without a garrison of bodyguards, Lanette not only grew up parentless, but also relatively friendless as well. Her own remedy to solitude was to drown herself in television and comic books. Such things are considered taboo to the life of a "proper lady", but Lanette was careful to hide her hobbies from anyone who would care. She is an absolute fanatic when it comes to pop culture and fiction, something which her superhero facade is an extension of. Due to her isolated childhood, she is a person who cherishes genuine relationships. As she's never had any real friends prior to arriving in Pebbleton, she tends to overreact in the presence of peers around her age. She has an unwavering belief in those she comes to trust, and while she doesn't always show it in the most direct of ways, Lanette cares for those she values more than anything else in the world. Abilities Lanette Enomena is called Use Master, a Crosser power that is shared across all members of the head Hindfell family. The ability allows the user to become proficient in the use of any tool upon contact (if he or she wishes). The ability doesn't simply stop at knowledge of how to use something, the user will also become physically able to handle the item to the degree of an absolute master. As long as an item is meant to be handled by human hands, whether it is a vehicle, a weapon, or an everyday object, a Crosser of Use Master can become completely proficient in its use. The ability does have it shortcomings. The actual application of the enomena requires some degree of mental conditioning, depending on the type of tool one is attempting to wield. As such, rather than attempting to master the use of every tool they encounter, a Hindfell Crosser usually specializes in certain tasks (for example, as the handling of automobiles are similar even between different makes and models, a Hindfell may choose to excel in that field, while another may become an expert pilot of aircrafts). To normal people, a user of Use Master simply appears to be a natural genius at a given task. This enomena has allowed the Hindfells to climb the social and corporate ladder without the risk of exposing themselves as supernatural humans. Unlinked Lanette has a very special case of the Use Master enomena; the power to handle ethereal artifacts instead of man-made objects. Unlike other Hindfell members, Lanette's abilities were apparently already specialized since birth, and required no deliberate conditioning. At the same time, it seems that her Use Master powers are locked to the use of ethereal objects; she is not able to learn how to deploy Use Master on any other types of tool at all. For a long period of time, it was thought that she was a "defect", an ordeal which was a large cause for concern seeing as how she was a direct heir to the head of the family. Even without a bond, Lanette's abilities are exceptional. She draws power directly from the ethereal artifact, and only needs to expend energy in order to activate the process. Once the artifact is activated, it seems to maintain itself. The range of items she can affect is wide and the limits are not yet known. She has even displayed some proficiency in the use of Panzer technology without any training. It seems that, as long as an item is built around Ether as a foundation, Lanette's variation of Use Master is effective. The ability does have one critical flaw; as Lanette is completely equipment reliant, being disarmed means she becomes nothing more than an ordinary girl. Linked Members of the head Hindfell family are forbidden from bonding with a Stray. The supposed reason is that doing so allows the Crosser to unconditionally "master" any and all material objects at once. The resulting flux of knowledge and power becomes too much for a human being to handle, and either drives them completely mad, or causes their brain to fail, turning them into a vegetable. Grand Messer An ethereal weapon that Lanette carries with her at all times, and the crux of her fighting capabilities. Main article: Grand Messer. Super Strength When Lanette activates the Grand Messer she not only gains a formidable weapon, but also increased attributes as well. The most notable of these boosts is physical strength and endurance. Lanette is able to consciously control the amount of power she receives from the Grand Messer, broken down into several rating levels: *'Inert Disk (0%):' Regular old Lanette without using her powers. Although she's quite agile and scrappy, she's not really that physically strong. Don't rely on her to help you move furniture around. *'Active Disk (~50%):' Lanette can utilize the Grand Messer's powers even when it's not fully activated. It works long as it remains on her person in some way, even if she's just wearing it close enough. Its disk form operates up to about 50% of the weapon's full capacity. In this state, Lanette is strong enough to break through concrete, dent the sides of metal shipping containers, jump a few stories in height, and lift cars to rescue babies... or retrieve change that's rolled under. *'Active Weapon (~100%):' The power supplied by the Grand Messer in full weapon mode. It can only be maintained as long as she is in physical contact with the weapon, meaning most of the power goes into swinging it around. At this level, Lanette can easily blast through the sides of buildings in one swing, leap tall buildings in a single bound, and send giant robots tumbling to their big metal butts. Huh, what do you mean that last one isn't a good example?! *'Overclocked (100+%):' Lanette can further supply the Grand Messer with ether in order to bring it above its regular operating capacity. This works for both the disk form and weapon form, although the former takes more effort to achieve the same power as the latter. Doing so strains her body more than usual. Past this point, there is no definite limit to her actual strength, only the amount of ether she can afford to expend. Lanette's Option Alter forms all overclock the Grand Messer in order to force specific functions. *'Breaker Judgment (???):' What happens when Lanette bonds? ...Or is forced to? Athletic Lanette has been trained in a variety of sporting activities and martial arts as part of her preparation routine to become head of the Hindfell clan. As a result, she is quite physically fit, and more dextrous and agile than most people. Even without her powers, she can perform acrobatic flips and spins, though not always with reliable accuracy (as the result of many bruises and sprains will tell you). High Metabolism Lanette's enomena consumes a lot of calories to use, so she's quite the eater. She often ends up famished after using her powers for too long, so she's grown the habit of always carrying around high-energy snack bars to bite into on the go. She was able to survive four months on what was essentially a junk food diet without gaining (too much) weight. Lanette's high metabolism seems to translate over to her behavioral mannerisms as well; she talks quite fast and seems to always be in a hurry, even if nothing is actually happening. Study Bug Lanette is something of a natural genius (at least, when it comes to book smarts), having been able to complete four months of accumulated assignments in a little less than two afternoons. She speaks a total of 9 unique languages with moderate fluency and can compute high-level mathematics (such as 4th order differential equations and 5-term Taylor series') all in her head. She still hates homework as much as the next sane person, though. She's much more interested and well versed on the topic of ethereal sciences, and can devise her own theories based on observation alone. She was able to postulate (and later confirm) the basic nature of Jacket's powers within a few days worth of having Lin thrash him around in mock sparring matches. Lanette also has a repertoire of considerably useless skills, such as spinning things on the tips of her fingers, indefinitely playing keep-ups with just about any kickable item, just about every way to whistle without an actual whistle, and being able to roll coins across the slits of her fingers. Relationships Lin Lanette is very close to her caretaker, and the two share a relationship more akin to that of sisters than anything else. She loves Lin like family, feeling that she's the only person left who truly cared for her after her father's sudden disappearance. She looks up to and respects Lin quite a bit, but isn't afraid to keep secrets from her to avoid incurring her wrath (something which she, even as Lin's "Young Miss", isn't exempt from). She also isn't opposed to poking a bit of fun at her caretaker every once in a while. Leaving Lin behind was the only regret she had about running away from home, but deep down, she knew that the woman would eventually catch up to her anyway. During Act 3, it was revealed that Lin had been within reach of Lanette for some time, but had to stay her hand due to the girl having been effectively taken hostage by the "Mysterious group". They later reunited, and after having a small quarrel over their differences, made up and resumed their closeness with one another. Jacket Lanette encountered Jacket some time after running away from home, yet before arriving in Pebbleton. At the time, the Stray seemed to be completely out of his mind, attacking her from out of the blue. She managed to fend him off, causing him to retreat. From that experience Lanette gained a strange fascination and obsession with her newfound foe, dubbed him her arch nemesis, and pursued him halfway across the country with the aim to "vanquish" him. Both eventually ended up in Pebbleton. Later on she would find out he wasn't quite as villainous as he initially seemed, and did her best to apologize for the trouble she caused. The two have gotten along on much better terms since, though they still butt heads occasionally, their bickering more resembles that of siblings or companions than enemies. While Lanette continues to enjoy pranking and teasing the Stray, she truly has come to value him as a friend. Because of this, she frequently becomes impatient or cross with him when he makes incompetent choices. After the incident at the cliff in Act 3, she offered to take Jacket in and house him as they both strove to become stronger. Mirto Lanette met Mirto shortly after arriving in Pebbleton. It was the older girl who had debunked her preconceived notions about Jacket's villainous nature. She later returned to apologize for her mistakes, and somehow ended up spending a night at Mirto's place out of an act of sympathy by the latter's aunt and uncle. She quickly grew to see Mirto as a friend, and admires the other girl's relatively mundane life and attitude compared to her own. She cares about Mirto as much as she does any other person she comes to trust, and was quick to berate Jacket for not having gone to see her right after he recovered from the fight at the cliff. Category:Player Characters Category:Crossers Category:Characters